Observations focused on the problems of an underdeveloped country, Venezuela, with some serendipity about the world (orchids, techs, science, investments, politics) at large. A famous Venezuelan, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, referred to oil as the devil's excrement. For countries, easy wealth appears indeed to be the sure path to failure. Venezuela might be a clear example of that.

3) Even more curiously, exactly a year ago, Hugo Chavez said in exactly the same venue, his annual speech to the National Assembly: “I am a Marxist”. Here is the video:

He says: “I am a revolutionary and I am also a Marxist…for the first time I assume Marxism…I assume it…the same way I assume Christianity…But Marxism is without doubt the most advanced theory…the most advanced proposal towards the world Christ came to offer us….”

So, by now you may be confused, if it is so good and so advanced, why is it that this is not where he is taking Venezuela?

Or maybe you remember Hugo when he was saying he was not a Marxist, but a socialist. Or maybe you remember him when he said that he did not believe in the after life, a funny sort of Christianity:

Organizing workers? I imagine you are organizing them to defend themselves against Chavez and his Government, because no sector has been mistreated more by Chavez than “organized” workers. Labor Courts dont decide anything, unions of workers that are part of the Government and/or its companies have no collective bargaining agreements and their rights are violated too often. So Rojo, you are doing a very bad job so far.

I have a friend who sells brand new yatchs, they are all imported. These are big boats. He sold about 15 last year, 13 of them were sold to people who are either pro-Chavez are claim to be pro-Chavez to make money, only two were sold to “old Money”. So Rojo, while you are organizing workers, the bolibourgeois are bleeding you all off and making you believe they are revelutionaries, while the truth is they are robolutionaries.

RA,
You really believe that “Venezuela’s parasitic bourgeoisie are getting fat and hanging out on their yachts and going on Miami shopping trips, while we are organizing workers and taking things over.”

Do you remember who was taking about “socialism” while wearing shoes of Louis Voiton ? Have you see all the gold that C. Flores is using lately. You are correct you guys are taking over the 18 year old whiskey drinking and hummers!.

Everything you represent is so wrong.
Firstly: the vast majority of Venezuelans are mixed, not African-native, not Indian, but mixed. They are mixed and the mixture turns out to be more European than anything else, even if variance is big.

Your stupid lot is trying to teach Venezuelans “you are the African-native”, the others the European. That is just not only a lie, but a pathetic one no one is buying. Now, you tell me filthy rich Vicente Rangel and Ramírez and Chaderton and so many more are the “poor native American” (who are less than 2%) while people like Andrés Velázquez or Ismael García are the rich.
For every rich family à la María Corina Machado you have 10 boliburgueses à la Diosdaco Cabello or Rangel who did not even produce anything but threatened and bought things cheaply under threat.
And let’s not talk about the Chavez clan in their yachts and in their haciendas.

By the way: how come Jesse Chacón is still free? Do you think he did not know his brother was a billionaire since 2004 due to shamless theaft?

FU
By the way: your name is very telling. “Rojo”…that’s everything you have of a “revolution”. Chavismo is such a bad joke that it needs to compensate for its complete lack of ethics by using the red colour as no one, not the Soviets during Stalin’s time, not the Soviet’s during Lenin’s or Brezhnev times, not even the Chinese under Mao did.

Haven’t you noticed that? I have very much and I have studied quite well the “Socialist” experiment. The only thing Chavismo has done more than others – apart from stealing – has been to wear and use red.

Excellent! Venezuela’s parasitic bourgeoisie are getting fat and hanging out on their yachts and going on Miami shopping trips, while we are organizing workers and taking things over. I think Chávez might have a new revolutionary model – instead of shooting the czar and his family, put them in a castle, or a yacht, or a country club, and let them get fat and drunk while we take over. Thanks for being lazy – rich, fat, white parasites!

There is great article in elunivesal.com today from Agustin Blanco Muños, “Ganará en el 2011 pero…”, “He will win in the 2010 but…” I recommended it to Spanish readers, it deserved to be translated and transmitted in another blogs.

I like, for example his effort to describe the chavez’s ideology, in Spanish “mezcla de (mix of) mesianismo-positivismo con (with) marxismo-leninismo-maoismo-fidelismo-zamorismo”, even English readers can translate the words involved, more difficult is try to understand what is the result of the that mix.

Gerry: We hava had too many Constitutiins and not enough Governments, I dont think the curent one should be changed, let it be the frameworknwhether it is imperfect or not. I have never understood why they pass laws and laws and nothibg is done about complying with them.

Kep’.
I value your input/comments.
In real terms – a reaction to what was or is does not help.
We must always record what has happened for future application but not to excuse ourselves of inactivity.
If you have positive paths to follow I would be interested in adding my augmentation.
For example; I am a retired architect (also structural, civil, mechanical and electrical engineer). I know how to build on a mass production scale, very fast, thousands upon thousands of homes. I have done it in the past, in other countries, (have documentary proof and photos’).
I will always be happy to pass on this knowledge.
The local bickering about construction and lack of money for the purpose never ceases to amaze me.
If I started a rationalized construction process I am sure it would be de-funded within three months after the first thousand or so homes. The government believes homes build themselves.
I do not know what else to say I am so frustrated. (I have access to private funding but cannot recommend it to my sponsors for obvious reasons).

I just saw what a bachiller chavista was saying about “them (Chavistas) the Indians” versus the escuálidos europeos. And he really believes over 55% of Russians and Eastern Europeans (a very fuzzy concept for him) want to go back to communist times and a lot more crap.

Thank you Moctavio,
I wish I could type faster, but I am soon to be 70 and never learned the skills of this fast fingering.’ Forgive me please.
Whether Hugo is in power or out of it, his legacy will prevade for the next two or so generations- God help us.
What people forget is that a ” “Constitution” is a contract between the peoples of a country which determines how they wish to be governed. It is not part of the laws imposed by the Government. Laws made must be within the the limits of the Constitution.
The current constitution has some very weak areas – but is passable.

Gerry: My personal feeling is that we will not get rid of Hugo in 2012. If he has the popularity he will go ahead have elections and be there six more years, if he does not, he will ask for a Constituent Assembly as President, there will be a referendum, then the election for the Assembly and then the ratification of the new Constitution, we are talking at least 2014.

Moctavio:
I did not specify in-voluntary or voluntary. Take your pick!
The theme is – lets put all of this behind us – recriminations at this time do not help.
Pull in the moving pointing finger. Let the future courts sort it out.
Define a positive agenda – say what it is and how it will work – perhaps we will have unity for an informed
“VEVEZUELA”.
The important thing is to move ahead for the sake of a country and its people.
I live here and wish the water,electricity supplies were better. I wish I could get in the stores ALL I require ( price does not objectively put items on the shelves).

When a promise is made I wait to see it happen. Thank God a lot of laws previously passed still have to happen in realistic terms.

Me yell?? what a joke.I am perhaps the most quiet person you will ever know.I was brought up in an environment where I was trained since a young age by a voice teacher and a piano to lower my voice range, and to speak softly.

The only think I could think was the blond hair and the fact that Germans are widely hated………….. in Hungary especially.

Actually I made some friends in Hungary, but could see that the German personality was not welcome there.I found Austria extremely unfriendly…

but my reference was more on how many dislike the Germans because they are considered rude.But rude is, different for different people.I am sure Germans do not consider themselves rude.

“There is no conceivable scenario in which Chavez actually packs his bag and leaves Miraflores peacefully. Like most tyrants, he is in the same position as the man who has caught a tiger by the tail.”

Remember that, like most tyrants (maybe not Vladimir Putin, though, what with his karate skills and athletic build), he personally could be kicked about by anyone in reasonable physical shape. Whether he makes trouble in leaving will depend on the amount and disposition of hardcore; or rather capable of violence supporters he will have left then (and that includes army and police who could just be convinced to not to act on his orders or look the other way). Ending tyranny equals preventing their acting up.

Firepigette,
The Czech republic has as many blond people as Germany. Perhaps it was because you were shouting yourself. I found the Czechs friendly. Prague can be tough now, but then go to NY.
Just don’t try Russian on Czechs.

When my family and I traveled in Austria, Hungary, and Chech republic, we were yelled at by perfect strangers quite a few times:

“schmutziger deutschlander !!!” even though none of us have a drop of German blood.Maybe because we are all blond.Dunno.

I would say there are quite a few places with ” big and dirty mouths” not just Berlin.

I would say that Venezuelans are polite next to Germans,who have the habit of saying whatever they wish to.I suppose their ‘big mouth habit’ is not considered rude in Germany, because each culture has its own code of ethics.

Venezuelans can be very sweet, and try to please others, they just don’t ALWAYS have much concept of formality in manners.

There is also less concept of private property than in the US or Europe, making them appear to overstep their boundaries a bit more.But when you get to know the culture well( not superficially), you see an extraordinary sweet and respectful side to most folks there.

He expresses himself in the terms of those who want to hear his utterances
and in terms of those who intrepid his vague elements of perceived paranoia.
He is a man for all seasons.
His belief in an afterlife or lack of belief is irrelevant to those of us who believe or do not.

He is a successful opportunist who has acquired a close cadre of near do wells’.
These hang on very tightly to the band wagon. Any one of them would push him
under the wheels if they did not need a front man, someone to take the final fall.

I wish him well in his retirement next year – just leave the money behind. Thanks.

Oh, no, Berliners are like that. They even talk with pride about their “grosse Schnauze”, their big mouth. Enjoy it, though, it’s a great city, specially if you have time to delve into the different cultural “scenes” there.

If you have a chance, travel to Bavaria and Baden-Württenberg for a little change. Tip: if spring or summer, try to go to the German forests there, hire some bikes.

I have been living in USA for 25 years and any time that I go to Venezuela I am surprise how loud and impolite most Venezuelans are compare with most Americans, except when I go to New York! I think I have changed, I am not more polite, (I always been polite!) but my perceptions are different, but at the same time Venezuelan’s behavior has changed for the worse! IN particularly in Caracas…too many people…too many problems.

However I am spending 1 year in Berlin, I have encountered many impolite individuals here. I was surprised…Gringos more polite than “Berlineses”, maybe I have become a “lacaya de Imperio” !

In the beginning there were all kinds of people in Venezuela. But then there was a strange mixture from some Castellanos with some Otomacos…
if you want to learn about the otomacos, read here:http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otomacos
I translated that from Humboldt’s accounts (a must, really: read Alexander von Humboldt on Venezuela).
I have the strong impression Chávez has Castillian-Otomacan blood

When I first arrived in Venezuela, I observed behavior that I found rude and unacceptable. I excused it to myself as either cultural differences or misunderstandings due to my lack of Spanish.

As I steadily improved my Spanish, I finally arrived at the point where, I could no longer blame it on misunderstandings due to language. That left only cultural differences. However, one trip to Colombia next door served to demonstrate that Latinos could be exceedingly polite and considerate and still be Latino.

And, in the time I have been here, personal behavior has gotten only worse. And why shouldn’t it? The country’s primary role model, the President, behaves even more thuggish than the average. The clear winners over the last decade have been the corrupt, the thieves, and the extortionists. In Venezuela, being honest and playing by the rules is a recipe for poverty and personal disaster. In Venezuela, nice guys really do finish last.

So, between Chavez and the Venezuelan lack of manners, ask yourself, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

Well, I once had to go to Venezuela from Germany through Miami. I hadn’t been in Miami since I was a child. When I approached the plane I saw all those loud mayameros I really felt like a bit out of place. When we were flyying I was sitting next to an old Italian immigrant. We started to talk and even though I did not mention what I was thinking before, he said about the same thing and added “I feel Venezuelan but I think I have more in common with people like you than with those”.

And it is not that I was coming from abroad. Once there I went once to the middle of the Gran Sabana, among other places, and talked for a long time with the Pemones and I felt more things in common with them than with those guys there in my neighbourhood in my city, but for my closest friends.

What is it? I don’t know if we are exagerating it, but I recall a time when some Latin Americans friends were joking and talking about the “perfect Latin American” (like the perfect European). They said something like:
“as humble as an Argentine, as feminist as a Mexican, as honest as a Colombian (well, well), as masculine as a Brazilian, as beautiful as an Ecuadorean, as well-spoken as a Chilean, as tall as a Bolivian and as well-educated as a Venezuelan.
Then they told me about the parvenu image many of them had of Venezuelans.

All you have to do is live in a tourist area like Isla Margarita near one of the main beaches to really get an idea of how the middle & upper class Venezuelan really is.

My wife (Venezolana) & I often talk about their behavior & attitude being one of the main reasons we live in the situation that we have. This does not apply, of course, to all but enough that if I was on the receiving end I would be pretty pissed.

I know that this is OT. I’m presently in La Paz, Bolivia, where I’m doing some consulting work for about a month. Knowing that this is a really poor country, with Evo as President, etc. etc., I was happily surprised to find out that La Paz is much, much cleaner than Caracas (or any other city in Venezuela), people are polite, not loud and vulgar, and I can actually walk the streets without looking around me for attackers. My question is, does the situation of a country depend on the type of government it has or the culture and nature of its inhabitants? Unfortunately, I won’t be here long enough to find out, but I do wish that Venezuela will improve in the future.

A Nicaraguan friend from my husband’s work said he heard Chavez’s latest speech on TV in which he says he is going back to democracy.That was his basic interpretation of Chavez’s speech announcing his decision to give up his enabling powers in 6 months.He thinks Chavez has realized that dictatorship will not work for him and is voluntarily giving up his power and might even decide not to run for future elections.

Obviously in this case Chavez’s goal to confound and confuse worked as this person being from the left was still starting to disapprove of Chavez because of his dictatorial tendencies.

Just so we are clear about the election of 2012: Chavez will not lose. By that I mean that either:

1) He will win with an actual majority of the vote by buying votes, intimidation of opposition, etc.

2) The CNE will simply announce that he won, despite results to the contrary.

or,

3) He could delay elections until “the time is right” or until hell freezes over, whichever arrives first.

There is no conceivable scenario in which Chavez actually packs his bag and leaves Miraflores peacefully. Like most tyrants, he is in the same position as the man who has caught a tiger by the tail. To let go of the tiger’s tail means he will face the wrath of the tiger. He has no other choice, but to cling to power by any means possible.

And he will flip-flop as many times as he deems necessary, without ever denying anything. For example that…

His objective is to destroy every one of the rules that might keep us safe from the violence of the government, and substitute ad-hoc interpretations of an ideology, Socialism that is quite agreeable with totalitarian rule, if not the same thing.

The most radical statements a person ever makes (specially when feeling comfy and powerful) are practically reflections of their true beliefs. We have heard Hugo Chavez’s to exasperation.

They are threats and hate against everyone wishing to have independence from his will. They are elegiacs to the most oppressive regimes to blight the Earth these days. For starters. They are vows to remain in power and institute Socialism, no matter what the cost to Venezuelans (Patria Socialismo o Muerte anyone?).

And then, there are also the actual actions, for Hugo Chavez has governed. In consonance with the above objectives, and almost as terrible.

If there’s something reassuring in these actions and words…

Only if he were to fully, penitently, abjure such objectives, made an apology to the victims of his actions and compensated them, gave back the powers he usurped and then tendered his resignation, would anyone reasonable be reassured, given his record.

magaescualidus:
I just moved back to Venezuela 😦 Before, when I heard only about 1/2 the stuff that was going on here I had a hard time following the news. Now that I’m here it’s even worse. You haven’t yet digested one piece of news and something else happens. How can one follow up on everything that’s going on? More Pudreval food was found rotten a couples of weeks ago. Nothing has really happened on the previous finding of rotten food.

Does anybody know what happend with the Pudreval scandal? I wouldn’t believe for a second their distribution chain (to call it something) quickly improved thus we don’t see it in the news anymore. I’d think instead Pudreval is kind of old news and so the non Chavista media attention shifted somewhere else. Does anybody know what happened with Pudreval, and if we should expect another massive waste of food in the near future as we saw in 2010?

About confronting Chavez with Chavez, did Chavez blame at least some of the curent problems of Venezuela on the world’s economic/financial crisis? If so, wasn’t it the case that not too long before (end of 2008 or in 2009), Chavez sort of bragged that while the world economy is in crisis Venezuela is in good shape and will not really be affected by the crisis?

It could bring a new birth of freedom, or an atrocity worse than Tienanmen Square.

Over this past Christmas season, a hardcore, totalitarian mixture of Marxism and fascism (hence, Marxofascism) has been forced upon a nation in America’s hemisphere, a nation of great strategic importance.

This nation is Venezuela, though even a doggedly observant newshound may not have caught a whiff of it.

Even so, this coming Sunday, January 23, Venezuela’s courageous citizens need, perhaps desperately, the massively focused attention of Americans and of the entire world. Will the whole world be watching?

If they get that attention, it may mean the Venezuelans’ key to freedom and perhaps a turning point in the renewed, worldwide soft war against freedom and sovereignty, by the globalist, Marxofascist complex. Yes Virginia and District of Columbia, there is a vast globalist, Marxist/fascist conspiracy. Just call it “the beast,” to use the term the Bible provides for such machinations.

Chavez highlighted [during his 7 hour speech] several important points: When he took office in 1999, the GDP, he said, stood at $90 billion, whereas last year, it was above the $300 billion mark. In other words, the President rammed home, it is a 300% increase and over the last 10 years growth has averaged 2.5% per year.

GDP rises 300% over 12 years with an average growth of 9.5%. (1.095 ^12 gives more or less 3.
With an average growth of 2.5% GDP rises 34,5% in 12 years (2.5 ^ 12 = 34.5).

Kepler, I like your comment because goes to core of the ideological mess that represent Chavizmo.

Also, I like that you put “socialism” between marks, to differentiate to other socialisms like Europe interpretations of the ideology.

I am amused how some of the chaviztas that not recognize that Chavizmo is a form of totalitarian State. Today there is no independent State branches, political branch or law branch in Venezuela, all depends on Chavez.

The ideological formalities foundation of what is Chavismo, only can be compare with the belief in UFOs or spiritual ghettos belief.

I’m going to be a bit “quisquilloso”. It is absolutely true Chávez lies through his teeth all the time and he has said all those things. I posted on the Marxist thing on several occasions. Now, you have to see this: most Venezuelans have no clue about ideology (not that many people do and it is not that one eats ideologies) and the hard-core ones are talking a completely different language from us, so these arguments are not quite enough (believe it or not).

Here some clarifications:
1) most commies don’t actually say Cuba or the former Soviet Union were communist states. Communism is some sort of Nirvana for them.
They have/had there the communist party and all that crap, but the countries were called “socialist”. So if you say “communist X”, they will start: ah, ah, ah, caught you, you don’t know shit”

What they say is that theirs were a form of “socialism” going towards communism. Communism as Marx and others defined it (not that Chavez read more than parts of the Manifest and probably without understanding 1% of it) is way different from anything we have had.

Now: the “purists” among commies now say even Stalinism and the whole shit of the Soviet Union was not really “socialism” but state capitalism.
Go figure. Whatever one calls it, every attempt to go to some non-pluralistic society where “socialism” is marked as THE system will lead to a complete disaster, to dictatorships, to more murders, to poverty.

But we have to take these little nuances these guys will want to make so that we use the precise words they use and catch them.

Marxism is a kind of communism, there is no doubt about that. Chavez has declared himself a Marxist. Now, what he has actually said is

1) he is not a socialist (he thought something like the Rhine school of thought was the path, he claimed in 1998)

2) he is a Marxist (which is a complete contradiction of 1) as a Marxist is also a socialist (and he is a Gramscist, which is another flavour and a Trotskist and a Maoist)

3) he wants to take Venezuela towards SOCIALISM.

So, in order to better corner these guys, I think we should focus on:
1) Chávez said he is a Marxist, which is a kind of communist. Yes or no?
2) Chávez said he is taking Venezuela to socialism. He won’t define which one, he will say “a unique Bolivarian blablabla”. So we need to ask to the people: do you want pluralism, multiparty system? Some other questions are also pertinent.

In any case, I think it is important to challenge them to define what they mean by something and how they stand concretely towards very specific freedoms and rights we have in a multiparty, pluralistic, non-military-driven, non-caudillo society.

Of course, because the whole thing is bullshit, they always go back to the Bolivarianismo rubbish. I am more convinced than ever that Bolivar -or anyone in his name-was one of the worst things that could have happened to Venezuela. Venezuela was liberated by hundreds of thousands of people. Bolivar’s ideas were contradictory at best. He was a good commander but above all a PR man. He had good things but also bad things. Now, it is about time to ask Chavistas what they mean by Bolivarianismo. As Manuel Caballero said, that is just an image used by all our caudillos for personal power, full stop.

Politics is based on the art of expediency, the purest form of self-service. Chavez is a master of the art. When you hear him say something, ask yourself: how is this going to benefit him personally? Or when he does something, which happens from time to time, how is this going to keep him in power?

Chavez has to say that he is a marxist because that particular mental condition is widespread among his followers. He also says he is a democrat, because some people still believe in democracy. A Christian? Sure, why antagonise the Catholic Church before he has a chance to crush it, or why alienate the evangelical groups that support him in part because he doesn’t identify with the Catholic Church? A half decent politician can walk that fine line keeping an equal distance from the various opinion groups in society. People still listen to Chavez, perhaps because he always has something to say against their enemies.

We tend to tolerate a dictator when he or she opposes the things we don’t like. Until we are the thing they don’t like.

You will however agree that the Dogma of corruption never changes? AS far as political dogma goes, its whatever keeps him in power. A good example are the Falange http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_2XyoxK-uE sound familar?